Commercial, Off-the-Shelf (COTS) is defined as "commercial items that require no unique government modifications or maintenance over the life cycle of the product to meet the needs of the procuring agency."

[From the Twelfth Edition of GLOSSARY: Defense Acquisition Acronyms and Terms.]

7.10.3. Mandatory Policies

The following bullets quote or paraphrase sections in the DoD 5000 series that specifically address COTS:

DoD Directive 5000.01, "The Defense Acquisition System" Paragraph E1.1.18, states "…The DoD Components shall work with users to define capability needs that facilitate the following, listed in descending order of preference:

"E1.1.18.1. The procurement or modification of commercially available products, services, and technologies, from domestic or international sources, or the development of dual-use technologies; …."

Hence, commercially available products, services, and technologies are a first priority for acquisition solutions.

DoD Instruction 5000.02, "Operation of the Defense Acquisition System"

DoD Instruction 5000.02, Enclosure 2, paragraph 4.c.(6), states that "existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) functionality and solutions drawn from a diversified range of large and small businesses shall be considered," when conducting the Analysis of Alternatives.
Enclosure 5, "IT Considerations," Table 8, "Title 40, Subtitle III/CCA Compliance Table," requires that, to be considered Title 40/CCA compliant, the Department must redesign the processes being supported by the system being acquired, to reduce costs, improve effectiveness and maximize the use of COTS technology.
Enclosure 5, "IT Considerations," Section 8, states that: "When the use of commercial IT is considered viable, maximum leverage of and coordination with the DoD Enterprise Software Initiative shall be made."

7.10.4. COTS Software--Reuse Custom Components

Modifying the core code of a COTS product should be avoided. It is possible to add code to the existing product, to make the product operate in a way it was not intended to do "out-of-the-box." This, however, significantly increases program and total life-cycle costs, and turns a commercial product into a DoD-unique product. The business processes inherent in the COTS product should be adopted, not adapted, by the organization implementing the product. Adopting a COTS product is done through business process reengineering (BPR). This means the organization changes its processes to accommodate the software, not vice versa. In many cases there will be a few instances where BPR is not possible. For example, due to policy or law, it may be necessary to build or acquire needed reports, interfaces, conversions, and extensions. In these cases, adding to the product must be done under strong configuration control. In cases where a particular COTS product does not provide the entire set of required functionality, a "bolt-on" could be used. A bolt-on is not part of the COTS software product, but is typically part of a suite of software that has been certified to work with the product to provide the necessary additional functionality. These suites of software are integrated to provide the full set of needed functionality. Using a bolt-on, however, also increases program and total life-cycle costs.

See section 7.10.6.3 for a more detailed discussion of reports, interfaces, conversions, and extensions.

7.10.5. COTS Integration into the Acquisition Life Cycle

The actions below are unique to acquiring COTS Information Technology solutions. These activities should occur within a tailored, responsive, and innovative program structure authorized by DoD Instruction 5000.02. The stakeholder primarily responsible for each action is shown at the end of each bullet.

7.10.5.1. Before Milestone A

Define strategy and plan for conducting BPR during COTS software implementation phase of the program.
(Sponsor/Domain Owner)
Consider COTS and BPR when developing the Analysis of Alternatives. (See section 3.3 and Table 7.8.4.T1 of this guidebook).
(Sponsor/Domain Owner)
Consider commercially available products, services, and technologies when defining initial user needs in the Initial Capabilities Document.
(Sponsor/Domain Owner)
When developing the Technology Development Strategy and/or the Acquisition Strategy, consider commercial best practice approaches and address the rationale for acquiring COTS.
(Program Manager (PM))

7.10.5.2. Before Milestone B

To the maximum extent possible, redesign business processes to conform to the best practice business rules inherent in the COTS product. Define a process for managing and/or approving the development of reports, interfaces, conversions, and extensions.

7.10.5.3. Before Milestone C or Full Rate Production Decision/Full Deployment Decision Review

Ensure scope and requirements are strictly managed and additional reports, interfaces, conversions, and extensions objects are not developed without prior authorization.
(Program Manager (PM))
Ensure adequate planning for life-cycle support of the program. See section 3.4, Engineering for life-cycle support, of "Commercial Item Acquisition: Considerations and Lessons Learned".

7.10.5.4. After Milestone C or Full-Rate Production Decision/Full-Deployment Decision Review

Conduct ongoing engineering and integration for sustainment activities throughout the life cycle of the program.

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